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Implementing thermal comfort model #14

Closed kamilakrych closed 2 years ago

kamilakrych commented 4 years ago

As suggested by @nheeren in the to do list for the BuildME paper, it would be useful to implement a thermal comfort model in BuildME. This model should allow to cool the buildings using natural ventilation (window opening) when certain conditions are met, which is a common practice especially in warmer climates. I have done something similar in my thesis on Brazilian office buildings so I can use my experience and apply this to BuildME. As of now, I see two important points that we need to keep in mind:

  1. The algorithm needs to be adjusted for regions with both heating and cooling seasons. The current algorithm allows for window opening even if the temperature is close to minimum thermal comfort limit, which can potentially increase the heating demand. This was not an issue for Brazil as even in "colder" regions of Brazil, temperatures are relatively high and the heating need is close to zero anyway. I think a reasonable way to solve it is to put a minimum temperature limit for window opening, e.g. 22 degrees.
  2. The window opening routine is implemented using AirflowNetwork (AFN) objects. As explained in this forum thread, infiltration objects are disregarded by EnergyPlus when AFN:SimulationControl is used. As a consequence, the infiltration rate from the ZoneInfiltration objects (used in the original BuildME archetypes) needs to be taken into account when creating the AFN objects.
nheeren commented 4 years ago

Let me elaborate my motivation to include this further, hoping it creates more clarity.

  1. We want to ensure that SDGs are met. The future buildings should be comfortable, also in currently developing regions, such as Africa.
  2. Maybe this helps us figuring out if a building requires heating or cooling systems under a warming climate.
kamilakrych commented 3 years ago

Maybe it's possible to merge this issue with this one from BuildME-paper? It's essentially the same issue.